Fall of the Castle
by knoffalofagus
Summary: The team is celebrating their recent victories as Voltron, but Pidge has to go find her family. However, her plans to leave are interrupted when the castle is overtaken by the Galra commander Sendak. With no one left to help, it's up to Pidge to rescue her friends and sabotage Sendak's attempts to take off... (Based off of chapters 4 and 5 of season one, and in Pidge's POV. Enjoy!)
1. Chapter 1

Pidge was torn. As much as she was telling herself that leaving was the right thing to do, abandoning her new family to find her lost one was still a hard decision to make. _But the team will be fine without me… They can find a new paladin, one who's stronger and has less emotional baggage than me…_ Whatever. She had already made up her mind. Her shuttle was already prepared; all she had to do was tell the others about her decision. Pidge was so deep in thought on the way back to the main hall that she wasn't even aware of Allura's presence until the princess was right in front of her.

"So, Pidge," she said. "we haven't really had much time to talk. Tell me about yourself."

What was there to tell? Well, there was a lot, but Pidge wasn't really ready to start spilling deep secrets. She decided to go with something more lighthearted – even though she dreaded eventually having to tell the princess of her choice to leave. _That doesn't mean I should kill the mood right now, though._

"Hmm… Well, I like peanut butter, and I like peanut butter cookies, but I _hate_ peanuts. They're so dry! Also, I sweat a lot. I mean, in general. Unrelated to the peanuts." Oh gosh now she was rambling and making herself look like an idiot… _Great job, Pidge._

Allura froze for a second. "Well," she started. "I was thinking of something a little more…personal. After all, we have a _lot_ in common." At this point Allura was flashing her a wide smile, and Pidge was more than a little uncomfortable. _What is going on?_

She decided to entertain the princess anyway. _We have a lot in common?_ "Like what?"

"Well both of us had our fathers taken away-"

"Yeah, but I'm going to get mine back." Her eyes widened as soon as she could register what she said. It just slipped out! "I'm sorry, I really didn't mean it!"

Allura took a deep breath and pushed the sadness from her eyes. She smiled again, somehow able to ignore Pidge's outburst. "It's okay, Pidge. I just want you to know that you can confide in me if there's anything you ever want to talk to me about." She stared expectantly at the paladin. " _Anything…"_ Pidge stared at her a moment. _Should I tell her now? She just got back into a good mood; I can't ruin that for her! No. Allura deserved to know._

"Actually, I do have something to tell you." Pidge tried to avoid Allura's eager gaze. "I-I'm leaving team Voltron."

Pidge heard the princess gasp and then freeze. "Wait, _what_?!" _And out comes the truth_.

"I decrypted the information from the Galra ship about where my family might be, or at least where they were." _Deep breaths, Pidge._ She tried to straighten up, to appear stronger than she felt. "I've made up my mind; I'm leaving tonight."

It pained Pidge to see her friend with such desperate eyes. "Pidge, you can't! You're one of five paladins! You have a sacred trust to defend the universe!" _I know, Allura. I'm sorry!_

She stepped back to avoid Allura's grasp. "My first priority is to find my family!" _They're all alone…_ "I thought you of all people would understand… If you had a chance to get your father back, wouldn't you?" _No, Pidge! She wouldn't! Allura understands where her priorities lie – unlike you._ Pidge shook her head. She needed to do this, and no one would stop her _._ She sighed and turned away. "I'm sorry. I should go tell everyone else." And she left, leaving the Altean princess standing behind her in shock.

Pidge found the others not long after. Hunk, Keith, and Lance all looked like they were having a good time. They were all relaxed and having fun for what felt like the first time in a long while. She couldn't ruin that. _I'm going to have to tell them eventually, but the least I can do is give them more time to be happy before I break the mood._ Instead she walked outside towards Shiro.

He was tense - _when was he not?_ – and his stance was that of a trained soldier. She wondered if he was like this before the Galra, or if self-preservation had forced him down this road. Maybe it was a bit of both. She trudged up beside him, with Rover hovering nearby. "Hey Shiro, I have something to tell you…"

* * *

Shiro was disappointed to see her go, but he understood her reasoning behind it. The rest of the team, however, did not. Hunk looked as though he was about to cry, Allura was still trying to comprehend the situation, and Keith was yelling at her. Finally, Shiro had had enough. "Keith, that's not how a team works. People have to want to be a part of it; they can't be forced." Keith still looked angry, but he didn't say anything else. Shiro turned to her. "If you want to leave, we won't try to stop you, but _please_ ," His voice took on a tone of pleading. "just think about what you're doing."

 _Guys, can't you see that I'm not happy about this either? But my family needs me!_ Pidge took a deep breath and steeled herself for the hardest words she'd ever had to say. "I'm sorry, but you'll have to find someone else to pilot the green lion." Then she was walking away towards the hanger, with Allura's last words hanging in her head.

"This team is falling apart! How will we ever form Voltron?"


	2. Chapter 2

She was just exiting the main hall when the blast went off. The ground seemed to shake and the screams of the Arusians echoed through the castle. Pidge immediately lost her balance and fell backwards onto the cold floor. Beside her, Rover was beeping wildly. Then the lights went out. _What the quiznack is going on?! Did we have an earthquake?_ She sat up slowly and winced and gingerly touched a tender spot on the back of her head. _I guess that's what happens when I don't have my helmet on…_ Her fingers felt sticky…and wet? _Oh, quiznack!_ Further investigation told her that yes, she was in fact bleeding from a head wound. However, even with her limited knowledge of medical knowledge, the wound didn't seem very large or severe. She decided to go find the others. No way would she be able to live with leaving if she didn't check on her teamm- no, ex-teammates. Using Rover to pull herself up, Pidge cautiously began her way towards the main control room. Logic told her that they couldn't get to their lions without power – _why was the power out, anyways?_ – so the control area seemed like her best shot.

She caught up to the others right outside the room. Smoke was billowing out, and the entire room was dark, save for a flickering light in the center. Pidge turned on the lights of her suit, and almost tripped over something. It was a person! _No, not just any person; it was Coran!_

Shiro was the first to rush forward and help him up. His voice was worried. "What happened?!" Coran shook his head slowly, and it seemed as though his brain was struggling to find the right words. "I-I'm not sure…" He groggily looked towards the center of the room, and the rest of the team followed his gaze. Allura gasped. "The crystal!" Her voice was panicked and confused, but even more so when she cried, "Lance!"

Pidge stumbled forwards, and sure enough the blue paladin was there, lying still and motionless on the floor. _Oh, please let him be alright! God, how will I survive after I'm gone, not being able to know if they're hurt…or, or- no, don't you dare finish that Pidge!_ She was even more torn about leaving than before. But that didn't matter. Pidge was staying until Lance was well and she could give him a proper goodbye. But first, "We have to get him to the infirmary!" Her voice came out more worried than she'd hoped it would.

It was silent until Allura met her with scared eyes that Pidge was sure reflected her own. "I'm afraid the infirmary cannot help him; without the crystal we have no power!" Translation: no power meant no healing pods for Lance. Pidge wracked her brain for a solution. The room fell back into a palpable quiet, with the only sounds being frantic breathing and Shiro's fatherly mutterings to his fallen comrade.

Tapping feet caused them to turn back towards the doorway, where the chief of the Arusians stood with a horrified look on his alien face. "Lion warriors, our village is under attack!" _Great, as if there weren't enough problems already!_ "We need help!"

Keith stood taller. "Guys, let's get to the lions!" He stood to leave, but was interrupted by Allura. "You can't! The lions are sealed in their hangers, and there's no way to get them out!" her voice fell even more. "We're defenseless!" _And just like that, Pidge's fears were confirmed. No lions, no Lance, no healing pods, and no defenses!_

The Arusian king became even more panicked. "Will you not help us?!" He cried.

Keith held up a hand in reassurance. "We'll help you, it's just…" He trailed off and looked down towards Shiro and the unconscious Lance. Hunk was muttering to himself, "Oh, this is bad, this is very bad."

Finally, Coran spoke up. "We have to get a new crystal to get the castle working again," he paused, and Pidge could see his face scrunch up in thought. "but to get a new crystal we'll need a ship." _Aha!_ "The pod I was loading! We can use that! And I left the bay door open!" If she hadn't decided to leave tonight, who knew what they would have done… _But that doesn't matter. We can do this, and helping out is the least I can do before I part ways._

Coran's face lit up. "Yes, and I can use the scanner on the pod to see if there's a Balmera nearby!" _What's a- you know what, never mind. I'll ask him la-_ Hunk spoke up for her. "What's a Balmera?" He asked. "It's where the crystals come from! Now," He motioned for Hunk to follow him. "you come with me. I'm going to need someone strong to help me carry the crystal."

They rushed out, and Pidge followed, leaving the others to sort out the attack on the Arusians.

* * *

After getting Hunk and Coran into the pod and explaining a few of her modifications to it, Pidge wished them good luck before following Rover back to the control room. When she got there, the room was quiet once again. The broken crystal flickered weakly, and Pidge felt reminded of a poor and dying creature. She turned away. Everyone was gone, which meant that they must have gone to help the village. But Lance wasn't here either; she needed to find him. The first place she checked was the infirmary. Allura may have said that the pods weren't working, but they could have gone there for supplies. Rover shined a light around the entire room, but it was empty. _Where is everyone?_ Even as much as she wouldn't admit it, Pidge was more scared than she could ever remember. The castle creaked and the shadows jumped out at her. Pidge shook her head, and steeled her nerves. She had Rover with her, so that was something.

If Pidge thought the dark infirmary was scary, it was nothing compared to the hallways. The lights on the walls that had once glowed a joyful blue were gone, and every noise echoed throughout the large halls. As she was walking with Rover, she made a mental note to find a way to turn off the lights on her suit. She didn't want to jump to the worst case scenario, but a Galra soldier could easily spot the blue lights flashing from her suit.

Pidge and Rover were almost to the balcony of the main hall when Rover beeped a small noise of warning. Pidge stopped and listened closely for any noise. Something was going on. She heard a crash and muttered conversation. Suddenly, Shiro's yell broke through the peace. She needed a closer look. Pidge ran forwards and ducked behind the railing of the balcony, making sure to clutch Rover to her chest and hide his light. From the sounds of combat below, Shiro didn't seem to be winning.

 _What do I do, what do I do?!_ Should she give away her position and help Shiro fight? Or should she try to stop them from the shadows and pick them off one by one? Pidge slowly peeked her head around the corner of the railing, and had to stifle a gasp. Shiro and Lance were surrounded by Galra soldiers, and Shiro was fighting the infamous Galra commander Sendak. Pidge watched as Sendak sneered something in Shiro's ear, and the moment that he turned to look at the unconscious Lance, Sendak hit him and the paladin crumpled into a heap on the ground. Pidge made up her mind. There was no way for her to confront all of the Galra and win, so she would have to defeat them from the background. The soldiers began dragging the fallen paladins away, and Pidge said one last whisper of a promise before retreating into the dark.


	3. Chapter 3

After watching Sendak fell Shiro, Pidge was in a bit of a panic. She was running through the castle, trying to get as far away from the main hall as possible. Sendak must have found a way to power up the castle, because the dark hallways were suddenly flooded with light. However, it wasn't the cheerful blue that she was accustomed to. No, it was the sinister shade of purple that Pidge now recognized as the color of the Galra. She felt too exposed now, as the shadows that she was once afraid of had offered her stealth. Who knew if the castle had cameras? Sendak could just pull up a view of all the rooms, and when he'd find her sitting in the middle of a hall, his soldiers would come and- _No Pidge, get back on the task at hand! You need a plan!_ But who could she talk to? Pidge had dabbled in Altean technology, but she was still clueless when it came to the matter of gaining control of an Altean castle. She needed help. Lance and Shiro were both unconscious…but what about the others? _Pidge, you're an idiot! Why couldn't you think of that sooner?"_ She ducked down and tried to remain as hidden as possible.

"Keith, can you hear me?" Her voice was barely a whisper, but she hoped that he would hear her call.

The comm crackled. "Pidge, is that you?" Keith's voice was terse but he sounded relieved to hear her voice. Pidge breathed out a sigh of relief that she didn't even know she was holding. "Where are you?"

"I'm inside the castle. Sendak has taken over, and he's preparing for launch!" She knew her next words were going to cause even more stress, but he needed to know. "Keith, he's got Lance and Shiro!" Suddenly, Allura's voice came through. Pidge relaxed. Allura was the last missing person, but now Pidge knew where everyone was, which offered her some relief – even if two of them were hurt and the other two were locked out of the castle.

"Pidge listen," She said. "if he's started the launch sequence, then we don't have much time to stop it."

"Okay, what do I have to do?" _She was on her own, but her friends needed her and she was_ not _going to fail them._

Allura's steady voice broke though again. "You have to get down to the main engine control panel and disconnect the primary turbine from the central energy chamber." Pidge quietly nodded and began looking at some schematics of the castle. She briefly thought that maybe it was a good thing to be in this position, because the only two paladins who would be able to make sense of Allura's technology jargon were Pidge herself and Hunk. Allura continued. "If you can do that, Sendak will have to reset the whole system. That might give us enough to figure out a way to stop him." _Alright. She could do this. She had to._

With one last fleeting farewell, Pidge began her journey to the heart of Allura's castle.

* * *

She had made it. It took a couple of wrong turns, and a few close calls with the patrolling guards, but Pidge now stood in front of the door to the energy chamber. The doors were sealed shut, but after a second of thought she had a solution. Her bayard lit up and the used the tip to pry open the doors before holding them open a second longer for Rover to float through. Pidge wasn't sure what she would do without her trusty robot. Yes, he couldn't talk to her like a the others could, but Pidge was now able to decipher his beeps to get a vague idea of what the little bot meant to say. And besides, Rover had unfailing loyalty and never left her side. It gave her comfort on those lonely nights when she'd think too long about her family.

Pidge turned to take a step forwards, and stumbled to a halt when she realized that the floor ended quite abruptly. Instead, Pidge found herself gazing down a long tunnel, lit up in that disgusting shade of Galra purple. _Come on Allura, did your people not ever use ladders? How were your mechanics supposed to even get down to the control room?_ Pidge sighed. "Okay Rover, here we go…"

Then she jumped, going back and forth from the walls and using her jet pack to slow her descent. The tunnel ended and Pidge found herself staring out into a cavernous room. In the middle there was a glowing orb of golden light, with a single catwalk leading towards it. Suddenly the sphere of light began sizzling and sparking. It was time to contact the others.

"Okay Allura, I'm at the main turbine, but I think it's starting!"

"Then you'll have to hurry. Cross the catwalk to the main panel in the center." Pidge did as she was told. After a word of accomplishment, Allura continued. "Now open the main control hub and enter the following sequence-" _What?_

"Wait wait wait, what? Which one is it? All the labels are in Altean!" The glowing orb became even more active, and light began streaming towards it and adding to its chaos. "I can't tell which one it is!" No response. "Allura? Allura!" _Great, now she really_ was _on her own…_

She straightened up and tried to make sense of the control screen in front of her. Her panic only grew as the sphere became more active and dangerous. The castle began shaking, and Pidge knew that is was getting ready to take off; she didn't have much time.

After another failed attempt to make sense of the Altean nonsense, her eyes drifted down to her bayard. It lit up in her hand. "Well, whatever." _There wasn't much to lose at this point, right?_ Then she punched her blade into the panel with all of the strength she had. The next thing Pidge knew, she was being thrown back from the center. Her bayard flew out of her hand, and her head smacked against the ground. For a moment she saw stars, and she was reminded of the head injury she had sustained no more than an hour ago. The glowing orb shrunk and calmed, so she guessed that whatever she did was pretty effective. Rover beeped in approval. She stood up, swayed for a minute as her head throbbed painfully. Hopefully she wasn't bleeding again, but there really wasn't that much time to check. Instead, she grabbed her bayard and ran out of the room, determined to get as far away as possible so she wouldn't be caught.


	4. Chapter 4

"Pidge, have you made it to the generator room?" Allura, was anxious, though Pidge couldn't really blame her. Once she took down the castle's defensive barrier, the others would be able to rush in and help. She just had to be careful. No doubt the Galra were now aware of her presence in the castle. But she walked into the room anyways. "Alright, Allura; I'm in."

The room was long – _isn't everything in this castle?_ – and the floor was divided into raised and lowered sections. Purple lightning cackled on each end all the way down, but for all of its weirdness, the room was Galra free – for now. "This technology is so advanced, I don't know if I can figure it all out…"

Allura's voice was back in her comms. "Yes, you can. The lives of your fellow paladins are at stake." _Yeah, no pressure!_ "You can't give up!" _Allura sounded like her father… Wait-!_

Pidge froze as her mind took her back to the _before_ , to the last moment she had shared with her family while they were still together.

* * *

"I hope you enjoy this home-cooked meal, Matt! After our launch to Kerberos tomorrow, we'll be eating nothing but freeze-dried peas for the next two months!" A young Pidge – no, _Katie_ – basked in her father's calming voice. At the time, she didn't know what was about to happen. Pidge wished that she had hugged them more, or told them she loved them just one more time before they left. Katie sighed. "I wish I was going up with you guys…"

Her father flashed her a bright smile. "Just you wait, kiddo. Something tells me that you're going to have your own crew someday, and you're gonna fly with them to worlds so far away we can't even imagine!" His smile turned into a proud and loving gaze, and Katie basked in it. "I bet my bottom dollar that one day, you're going to be a part of something that makes the whole _universe_ sit up and take notice. I just know it."

They left in the early morning the next day, and then they were gone.

Soon, she was watching the news relay that her family's ship was missing. The stoic voice of the news reporter echoed in her ears. "All crew members are believed to be dead… caused by pilot error…" Katie had stood on the stairs and watched as everything she believed in, everything she held dear, disappeared in an instant. But she knew that the Garrison was wrong. There was absolutely no way that their pilot had caused the crash. Her father had told her, "Yeah, Shiro is the best pilot out of anywhere! If there is anyone that I could trust to take us back home to you safely, I know it would be him."

So Katie decided to investigate. Her family may be dead, but their stories would receive their justice.

* * *

The Galaxy Garrison had lied. And Katie had seen the proof herself. Yes, breaking into the General's office and hacking his computer was definitely illegal, but so was the government covering up the truth about her family. Unfortunately, she had been caught in the act, and Katie Holt was banned from ever being on Garrison grounds again. So she came up with a new plan. She would cut her hair and change her name. If Katie couldn't get access to the Garrison files, then Pidge Gunderson would. The General would never even think to look for Katie masquerading herself as a boy, and he definitely wouldn't see her face past the short hair and her brother's glasses. Katie and Pidge looked very different from each other, but they both had the same goal: get justice for her family.

Then she was back. Back to the present, and back to being Pidge. "Okay Allura, talk me through it."

"Alright. Shutting down the barrier from this room can be dangerous. And remember: the barrier is also very dangerous, so stay away from the energy arcs."

"Don't touch the giant lightning bolts. Got it."

"Okay. Now, what I'm going to need you to do is-" Pidge's attention was cut off as a blaster fire sounded from behind. She let out a yell in surprise, then took off running with Rover close by her side. "Pidge!" _Oh, Allura must have heard her._ "Hello, are you there?! Pidge, what's going on?" Pidge wanted to respond, but her focus was on getting away from the firing.

She ducked behind a corner and crouched down with her datapad out. Schematics of the room flashed in front of her. _Come on, give me a way out of this!_ Suddenly, she found one. Wait, "The only way out is two floors up? Seriously?!" Pidge slowly peered around the corner, but drew back immediately as Galra shots nearly blasted her in the face. _It was too dangerous to try and look back again, but she needed to see where she was going. Hold up – she had an idea._ A couple taps on the screen later, and Hologram Pidge was ready. The image ran out and drew the fire away from the real Pidge. Only for a couple of seconds, though. The soldiers soon saw through her ruse, and she was forced to try and dodge blaster fire as she raced towards her exit. Her bayard lit up in her hand, and suddenly she was flying up towards a ventilation shaft in the wall. She smacked into the wall, but landed on the ledge safely. "Woah, I can't believe that worked!" More gunfire snapped her back to the task at hand though, and Pidge rushed into the vent.

It was probably only minutes but it felt like hours as she crawled through the ventilation. Shen eventually met with a vent cover, but a quick swipe with her bayard was all it took for her to pop the hatch free from the wall. She crawled out cautiously into the large room that they used for their paladin training – not that she would really be doing that after this whole ordeal was over with. But whatever. _There are more important things to worry about._

She was running across to the other end of the room, when there was a crash behind her and two Galra soldiers intercepted her path. _Come on, you've got to be kidding me!_ But she had a plan. "Invisible maze; let's see you get through this!" She ran towards them and slid under one of the soldier's legs before flying back. Then, just as they were about to catch her, she put up the maze. Pidge smiled when the first soldier rand straight into the wall and blew to pieces. The other one was stuck, so she left him to it as she dug up a panel in the floor and slid down.

Pidge was halfway to her destination when shots rang out behind her. _Okay, I guess he's not so stuck after all…_ She ducked into a side vent, but the soldier was relentless behind her. Pidge began to speed up. She couldn't really move to avoid the blaster shots, and she wasn't really sure what would happen if she was hit.

Her pursuer was even closer now, but then he stopped and took aim. She continued scrambling through the vents, but a blow to her side sent her tumbling…straight down into a hole. She was paralyzed – maybe with fear or from the shot, she didn't know. Time seemed to slow as she tumbled down, and there he was, right above her. Suddenly, she got her bearings. Her bayard flashed a brilliant green and shot up towards the top. Then she was going back up. The only problem was that she now found herself being drawn even closer to the soldier above her. He began shooting down at her, and Pidge began throwing herself back and forth to mess up his aim.

Finally, she clung to a ledge on the wall and her bayard swung down, bringing the doomed soldier with it. He tumbled past her and Pidge took a moment to catch her breath. She had almost died more times in a _day_ than she had in an entire month!

The Galra soldier eventually landed at the bottom, but the ensuing explosion shook the entire vent, and Pidge lost her grip on the wall. She let out a yelp of surprise but never fell. Rover had her back, both literally and figuratively. "Rover," She gasped. "nice save, buddy."

They continued on a while longer, and eventually broke out and found themselves back in one of the castle halls. Pidge was glad; the incident in the vents had left her with a crushing fear of claustrophobia. She took her helmet off and shook the sweat out of her hair, ignoring the sticky feeling of dried blood at the nape of her neck. _How had she even gotten to where she was now? Well, she guessed it all started with the Garrison._


	5. Chapter 5

"First day of school." The words were said with a hollow voice. Katie – no, Pidge – tried to take in her appearance one last time. Dull amber eyes, faded freckles, and dirty brown hair that hung down past her shoulders. _Not for long._ "Time for a haircut." Then she reached for the scissors, and cut the past away.

After that, she had put on her new glasses. She had scoured the entire house for one of his extra pairs, because there was no way that she would be able to go inside his room. The memories from the rest of their house were bad enough, but to go into his room would crush her. She's finally found a pair, resting high on a shelf in the study. Then all she had to do was replace his prescription lenses with some fake ones she had made. Just like that, the girl named Katie became the boy Pidge Gunderson.

She met Lance and Hunk a couple of weeks later. They were assigned to the same team, and they were all wearing that hideous orange uniform that she would eventually hate with a passion. They were both pretty nice, but Pidge couldn't risk getting too close and having them discover her secret. So, she became a good acquaintance, and left their relationship at that.

* * *

"You know, Rover… I haven't always been there for my team…" She gave a small smile to her robot friend and put on her helmet once more. "This time, though, I will be. Come on!" Then they ran. Pidge's guess was that the Galra would be back by the glowing turbine, trying to repair all the damage that she had done – she smiled a little at the thought. If she could get down there and knock them all out, then she could once again prevent them from taking off. She knew that once the ship was in the air, she would have no chance of stopping them.

Pidge and Rover found the engine room again, only this time it was already occupied. A Galra officer stood typing away on the control panel, completely oblivious to the presence of the paladin and her robot. She began making her way up the wall using a mounted ladder – _huh, it seems like the Alteans had ladders after all –_ and ended up right next to a certain panel in the wall. If her datapad was correct, then this panel had the power to give the room a bit of a…spark.

After scanning the panel, she pulled up a view of the screen on the control panel down below. The Galra soldier was still typing away madly, and she saw that he was getting ready to power up the turbine once again. Pidge watched the reading climb with a smile. "And up, and up, and up… I would _not_ want to be touching a metal surface when this thing overloads."

The soldier below her must have seen something was off, but it was too late. Energy crackled out from the orb and the alien below her screamed. Just as it was about to reach her, Pidge leapt off the wall and grabbed onto Rover. Her trusty droid swung her down and she landed at the end of the catwalk facing the Galra commander.

His face scrunched up in a mixture of confusion and disgust. " _You're_ the one that's been causing all this trouble? A child?"

Pidge shifted her stance and felt her bayard activate. "I'm not a child. I'm a paladin of Voltron!"

The soldier just laughed. "Let me tell you something, _child_." She watched him draw a glowing sword from his hip. "I am a soldier of the Galra empire. Nothing stops me but triumph, or _death_." Then he rushed her.

She barely avoided his first swing. Not only was he more trained in combat than her, but his weapon had a much farther reach. _Or did it?_ He kept swiping at her, and she ducked and rolled out of the way. Finally, she saw an opportunity, and her bayard shot out and wrapped around his arm. For a split second she thought she had him, but then the soldier used her coil to toss her across the room, where she rolled and crashed against the control panel.

He sauntered up to her with a twisted grin on his face. "Nowhere left to run, and nowhere left to hide…" His sword raised up for the final blow, but he was interrupted by a frantic series of beeps from behind him. Pidge used Rover's distraction and slid under the soldier, making sure to wrap the line of her bayard around his ankle. Then, when she was far enough away, she pulled and left him stumbling towards the edge. However, it was Rover who dealt the last hit. The droid slammed into the Galra man, but when he fell from the catwalk he grabbed onto the only thing available. "Rover!" _No, you stupid droid, don't you dare don't you do it-_

Time slowed down. Pidge watched as Rover's lights grew bright, and then it faded and the empty droid went tumbling down into the darkness. "Rover, no! Please, no…" Rover was her friend. He filled part of the empty hole in her heart, and now he was just another person that had been taken from her. _But he would be the last._

The control screen flickered, and Sendak's voice rang out. "Haxxus, report."

Pidge ran up in anger. _This_ was the vile creature that was responsible for everything. "Haxxus is dead! And you're next!"

Sendak chuckled, and even though she knew that he wasn't even close to her, it still sent shivers up her spine. "You've slowed me down, but this ship is mine! You will turn yourself over to me immediately!"

 _Was he kidding?!_ "Never!"

"Well then, maybe your leader can convince you." _Wait, Shiro?_

Pidge froze in shock at Shiro's voice. "What do you want, Sendak?"

"Oh," Sendak crooned. "your friend wanted to hear from you."

"Shiro?" _Please be okay, please!_

A crackling noise came through, but Pidge was more focused on Shiro. "Pidge, don't listen to him, you can't-" Pidge clenched her eyes shut and tried to block out the pained screams of the black paladin. "No! Stop!"

The screams faded, and Sendak's voice was back. " _You_ can make it stop. Just turn yourself in. His suffering is in _your_ hands." Then the screen blanked out, and she was left with echoing screams in her head.

* * *

It was time. She was crouched just outside the doorway to the control room. Sendak was in there, taunting Shiro. As much as Pidge wanted to rush in that instant, she had to wait for the right moment. But Sendak was still talking.

"Oh, I'm impressed that you managed to escape. Perhaps it would be worth the trip to your planet to see if rest of your kind have your spirit." He sneered. "Of course, they will all end up broken, just like you. Now that we have Voltron, every planet, every race…all will share the same fate."

Pidge had had enough. It was time to take action. Hologram Pidge 2.0 stood in the middle of the doorway, and sure enough Sendak took the bait and started chasing. The real Pidge stood up and immediately rushed into the room. Shiro was kneeling on the floor, and she ran straight up to him. "Shiro, wake up." She whispered. "It's m- "

Suddenly she was being yanked backwards. _No, please don't let it be him…_ Sendak grinned next to her. "You really thought your little hologram trick would fool me?" He had her clutched like a glass doll in his hand, and he was ready to crush her. Pidge felt the sharp nails digging into her, and her ribs were on the verge of breaking. She couldn't move. She couldn't breathe. She couldn't _escape_. Then a moment later it stopped.

Pidge tried to gasp in breaths, and the black began to fade from her vision. She opened her eyes blearily to see Keith and Allura charging into the room. A shot rang out from behind them, and Sendak stumbled. His hand loosened, and Pidge found herself tumbling out and crashing on the floor. Shiro and Keith were doing their best to fight him, but they needed help. Pidge ignored the pain and lit up her bayard. When Sendak threw Keith across the room, she attacked, and her weapon sliced cleanly through the monster's Galra arm. But even without his enhanced limb, Sendak was still overpowering them. He knocked her back into a wall at the same time that Keith charged him again with his sword. In a last moment attempt, Pidge shot her bayard and wrapped it around the soldier's leg before sending a crippling jolt of electricity through it. Sendak yelled in pain, yet he still managed to catch Keith's sword mid-swing.

From another part of the room, Allura yelled. "Keith, now!" Pidge watched as the red paladin kicked Sendak straight towards the crystal in the center of the room, and before the man could even recover Allura set a barrier up that trapped the Galra killer for good.

She slowly rose from her huddle against the wall, and headed over to Shiro. Her bayard cut through his bindings and she crouched down next to him. "Shiro… Are you okay?"

Pidge was relieved to see him offer a small smile. "Yeah, I'm okay. Thanks to you." He sighed. "We're gonna miss having you on our team. She grinned and helped him up. "Well, about that…"

* * *

Despite all of Pidge's complaints, the rest of the team was adamant that she go down to the infirmary and spend some time in a healing pod. She insisted that she was fine. She could breathe almost normally again, and her head had stopped bleeding. Besides:

"Guys, I _can't_! I have work to do! I've got to- "

Shiro interrupted her. "Nope! No you don't! The rest of us can handle the mess while you and Lance get better."

"Besides," Hunk added. "at least you don't have to be in there as long as Lance!"

"Hey!"

It took a lot of grumbling and parent-threats from Shiro and Allura, but eventually the green paladin resigned to her fate and climbed into the pod next to Lance." Before the pods closed in, he shot her a wide grin.

"Hasta la vista, Pidge!"

She smiled. "Hasta la vista…"


End file.
